Major Warships Sunk in World War 1 1914

Magdeburg was possibly Germanys most important loss of the war. She ran aground in the Baltic whilst minelaying and was then destroyed by Russian
cruisers. Importantly the German code books were captured by the Russians and then passed on to the British who put them to good use as part of their intelligence effort.

6 August 1914
Amphion, British, Active class Scout Cruiser
Sunk by mine from the German auxiliary mine-layer König Luise in the English
Channel. Amphion had sunk the German ship the previous day. Mine
exploded under the bridge and soon after the ship was abandoned a magazine
exploded sinking the ship. 132 British sailors were killed, as were all of
the German prisoners rescued from König Luise.

16 August 1914
Zenta, Austro-Hungarian, Zenta class Protected Cruiser
Sunk by the guns of the French battlefleet near Montenegro. Zenta and the
destroyer Ulan were engaged by the French battleships and whilst Ulan managed to
escape Zenta succumbed to the overwhelming odds.

26 August 1914
Magdeburg, German, Magdeburg class Light Cruiser
Ran aground near the Odensholm lighthouse (Baltic). After a failed attempt to
re-float her the Russian cruisers Bogatyr and Pallada arrive and destroy the German cruiser with gunfire.
The ships Commander and 56 crew
are captured as are code books.

3 September 1914
Shirotaye, Japanese, Asakaze class Destroyer
Wrecked during battle with the German gunboat Jaguar in Kiao-Chau Bay.

5 September 1914
Pathfinder, British, Pathfinder Class Scout Cruiser
Torpedoed by German submarine U21 near St Abbs Head. Hit by a single torpedo that hit the forward magazine causing it to explode, Pathfinder sinking in 4 minutes.
She was the first British warship sunk by a submarine in World War 1.

11 October 1914
Pallada, Russian, Bayan class Armoured Cruiser
Torpedoed by the German submarine U26 whilst patrolling in the Gulf of Finland.
Single torpedo hit amidships and the ship exploded and sank with no survivors.

15 October 1914
Hawke, British, Edgar class First Class Protected Cruiser
Torpedoed by German submarine U9 off Aberdeen in the North Sea. The torpedo hit
amidships and Hawke capsized within 10 minutes. The destroyer Swift and the
steamer Modesta picked up 71 survivors but about 500 crew were lost.

S115, German, Torpedo BoatS117, German, Torpedo BoatS118, German, Torpedo BoatS119, German, Torpedo Boat
The four torpedo boats were making a mine laying raid on the mouth of the River Thames when they were intercepted by the British cruiser Undaunted and the
destroyers Lance, Lennox, Legion and Loyal in the North Sea. The British force overwhelmed the German torpedo boats in about 1.5 hours of firing and only
36 crew were saved.

31 October 1914
Hermes, British, Highflyer class Second Class Cruiser converted to Seaplane
Carrier.
Torpedoed by German submarine U27 whilst acting as an aircraft transport between Dover and
France. First torpedo struck from a range of c.300 yards and as the cruiser was
sinking by the stern a second torpedo hit her and she then sank quickly.

17 November 1914
Fredrich Carl, German, Prinz Adalbert class Armoured Cruiser
Hits two mines in the Baltic. The ship takes c.5 hours to sink and all
except 8 members of the crew are rescued.

26 November 1914
Bulwark, British, London class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship
Exploded whilst lying at anchor at Sheerness with only 12 survivors. During that day she had been taking on board ammunition and it was thought that
the shells had been stacked too close together and too close to a boiler room which caused some of them to ignite and cause a magazine explosion.

13 December 1914
Mesudiye, Ottoman, Mesudiye class Central Battery Battleship
Torpedoed by British submarine B11 in the Sea of Marmara. The old battleship was partially disarmed and being used as a guard ship at the time of
her loss being hit by a single torpedo in the stern from a range of c.750 yards.

HMS Amphion was sunk by a mine laid by the German auxiliary mine-layer Königin Luise. The German ship had been spotted by
Amphion and her attendant destroyers and sunk but on their return to Harwich Amphion struck one of the mines causing her to sink as well as killing the German
seamen on board who had been rescued from the the German minelayer.